The festive season in Nice (France)

I’ve been in Nice (France) for New Year’s a couple of times. You might not associate beach and the palm trees with Christmas spirit but Nice has it in abundance. The biggest city at the French Riviera likes to show off a bit in the winter time which means that you can enjoy the festive decorations and the Christmas Markets as much as you can in traditionally more Christmassy destinations (e.g Austria &Germany ). But in a milder weather 🙂

This year I visited the Christmas markets in Vienna, but last year and the year before that I spent a couple of days in Nice just around New Year’s. I really love Nice and it’s my favourite town at the French Riviera and I’ve been lucky to see it in different seasons. The main venue for all things festive is of course the main square Place Massena. You’ll find a giant Ferris wheel there as well as a Christmas market. You can drink vin chaud (mulled wine) or eat pancakes&waffles or choose some other sweet or savory snack to nibble on while you browse the goods at the Christmas stalls. Everything is beautifully decorated and lit so you have to take a stroll in the evening to fully appreciate the festive lights. Another festively decorated square is the Garibaldi square. All the palm trees along the Promenade des Anglais are festooned with Christmas lights too. The Old Town under the Colline du Château and the streets around the Cathedral look very Christmassy and are as usually full of people. The main shopping street Avenue de Jean Medecin prides itself with exquisite lighting and nicely decorated shops’ displays.

But unlike in Austria or Germany in Nice you can almost have a picnic at the beach if it’s not too cold 🙂 And you can ice-skate too 🙂

So, enjoy the photos of the festive season in Nice (they are not from this year but from the previous years).

window display

the view from the Ferris Wheel
the view from the Ferris Wheel
the view from the Ferris Wheel of the main square
the view from the Ferris Wheel of the main square

 

Nice, 2011

Nice, 2013
Nice, 2013

Place Garibaldi, 2011
Place Garibaldi, 2011
Place Garibaldi, 2013
Place Garibaldi, 2013

Place Massena, 2011
Place Massena, 2011

Place Massena, 2013
Place Massena, 2013

 

2014, near Place Massena
2014, near Place Massena

Have you been to Nice? What’s your favourite Christmas/New Year’s destination?

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41 thoughts on “The festive season in Nice (France)”

  6. I’ve only been to Nice for a couple hours. We stopped in for lunch when everything was closed; not the best way to see Nice. I do love France though and would love to visit again. Nice looks like a wonderful place to spend the holidays. All of the Christmas lights look so festive! 🙂

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  17. What beautiful photos! I love seeing how Christmas is decorated and celebrated in other places. We have a huge celebration gong on near our harbor and it’s amazing. So much fun!

    thanks or sharing with us at Photo Friday!

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  23. Ahhhh lovely Nice, I was there today, meeting up with a few local bloggers for lunch and a wander around the Christmas market. I love it and posted a piece today featuring Nice Christmas market too. So to answer your question, yes I’ve been to Nice as I’m lucky enough to live just up the road! And I agree with you that it’s a lovely place for the end of year festivities. Thanks for linking up to #AllAboutFrance

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  24. We also have Christmas’d in Nice twice. Quite agree about the festive spirit being lovely, but is such a superb setting. One year we had sunshine every day and the next storms, so you never can tell. We were there again in August in our motorhome and the campsite at Biot was washed away in the floods.

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